Braided stock up & down pipes

[84GNGary]

Any idea on how long the life span is on these ? Their original and have 42k on them. What happens to them when they fail and can it damage anything if they do?

 

[Bonden]

I've got about 135k on mine now - not really sure cause the speedo stopped recording mileage at 86K in 1991. They still seem to be doing their job but I would like something different someday...

 

[buickpower]

well under the braid is just a regular crush bent metal pipe, i wouldn't see why it is any more prone to failure than other types of up pipes. should last quite a while.

 

[84GNGary]

Someone told me that they were prone to leaks. If that were the case I was thinking about replacing them with ATR pipes to avoid any future problems and maybe start to increase performance. With everything still stock would it be worth while replacing them removing the cat and gutting the muffler? Or leave them be and still remove the cat & gut the muffler ? My exhaust system is all 2 1/4 & the cat is 3 inch. I don't have to go through inspection anymore so I am not worried about the cat.

 

[buickpower]

Gutting the cat will give you some gain. Never heard of anyone gutting the mufflers, if you are going to do that you might as well just put in a testpipe and leave it open, since there won't be much sound deadening either way. A bigger downpipe will make a difference. As far as the up pipe, well I think you'll find the results will be hard to quantify, since the pipe isn't really any larger, it's just mandrel bent. Generally speaking though, any freeing up of the exhaust will net you some gain, either in power or spool or a little of both even on a rather stock setup, although you may have to bump up the fuel pressure a tad afterwards.